Page 488 of Pride Not Prejudice

Kurt raised a brow and laughed. “Do you have another one of those?”

“Of course, I do,” I replied, handing him a wine cooler. His laugh made me tingle.

The sweet, strawberry, mostly sugar alcoholic drink slid down my throat and gave me a boost of confidence. Edna would not be impressed that I’d whipped out the wine in a serious moment, but I didn’t have to tell her. A man had to do what a man had to do. And what I had to do was ask Kurt out. If he said no, that would be that, but if I didn’t try, I’d regret it for the rest of my ridiculously long life.

“Umm… Kurt, I was wondering,” I said as my eyes landed on a silver framed photo on his desk.

The words got caught in my throat and I wanted to cry. It was a picture of Kurt with his arm around a very handsome man… with a full head of hair. They were both laughing. The love was obvious. My heart sunk to my toes. It was stupid of me to think a man like Kurt had been pining away for a man like me. I’d been replaced… and rightly so. I’d ghosted him.

“Wondering what?” Kurt asked with that delicious grin still on his delicious lips. His sexy gaze bored into mine and I felt a bit breathless.

Voila the Immortal Match Guy was definitely flirting. I didn’t think he was a dog, but maybe he was. He clearly had a boyfriend. The proof was on his desk. No matter how badly I wanted to play tonsil hockey with the man, I was no home wrecker.

Downing the rest of the wine cooler and pulling out another, I realized there was only one way to handle the situation and be able to leave with my self-respect intact. I’d already apologized for being an ass. That was good. Now, I’d just pretend that I wanted him to help me find love… just like he had. I had no intention of going on a date with a stranger, but that was for me to know and for him to never find out.

“Do you have a date in mind for me?” I choked out. “I’m ready to put myself back out there.”

Kurt’s smile disappeared and he went back to being all-business. He looked hurt, but that was absurd. He had a boyfriend ten times hotter than me. My instinct was to spew out a word vomit and admit that he was my Prince Charming. My respect for monogamy and myself wouldn’t let me do that.

“I’ll go through the files and come up with a few potential dates for you to choose from,” he said flatly. “Can you come back tomorrow so we can discuss?”

That was going to kill me dead. Just being in the same room with him was difficult. If I spent too much time with him, I was positive I was going to spill the beans on how I felt. That would be wrong. He was involved with someone. I wasn’t a side piece, as Dracula Smith had so non-eloquently put it.

“Is that how this usually works?” I asked. “The client comes back?”

“Nope,” he replied with a cagey look. “You’re a special case.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or embarrassed. I was leaning towards mortification. “I think I have a dentist appointment tomorrow,” I lied.

“What time?” Kurt asked, calling my bluff.

“Sometime between nine and three,” I said with a wince. I was such a shitty liar.

Voila the Immortal Match Guy glanced down at his desk. I wasn’t sure if he was trying not to laugh or just didn’t want to look at me. “Fine,” he said with a straight face but a smile in his bright blue eyes. “Come in at four. We can go over your options.”

I stood up and put the strap of my man-purse over shoulder. My life was a hot mess. As I turned to leave, Kurt spoke.

“The fashion show was wonderful, Johnson,” he said. “It was thrilling to watch you shine.”

I nodded and gave him a forced smile. The tears were close to the surface and I refused to lose my shit in front of him. “Thank you,” I whispered. “It was a dream come true.”

He smiled and I melted inside. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” I repeated and hauled ass out of the office.

Thankfully, Cha-Cha wasn’t at her desk and Jeeves must have taken a potty break. I made it out to the street without having to talk to anyone in Kurt’s amazing family. Pulling out the card, I called Dracula Smith and let him know I was done.

Today had been bad.

Please don’t let tomorrow be worse.

Chapter Eight

Dear Diary,

What the actual fuck? While my career is exploding in a fabulous way, my nonexistent love life has been cremated and buried six million feet under. Karma is known as a bitch, but I’m going on record to say she’s a shittily dressed skank.

Prince Charming is now well aware that I’m a loser. It wounds my wizard soul to see how quickly Kurt moved on from what I thought was the real deal. However, I have no one to blame but myself. There simply are not enough wine coolers in the Universe to drink away my problems.

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